


Mark's Epilogue of (Un)fortunate Events

by bunnyhop888, nux_myristica



Series: the apotheosis of nct [2]
Category: NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, First Time, Fluff, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Miscommunication, Partying, Past Relationship(s), bless mark lee, for some reason we talk about aristophanes??, jaehyun is a wingman, lucas is a hoe but very soft at the same time, these boys are dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:48:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29880693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnyhop888/pseuds/bunnyhop888, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nux_myristica/pseuds/nux_myristica
Summary: After settling into his new role as the god of adventure, Mark decides that everything isn’t going as well with Lucas as he would like.AKA Ten chats shit when he’s drunk and Mark overthinks everything.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery, Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: the apotheosis of nct [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2183898
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	Mark's Epilogue of (Un)fortunate Events

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone!! it's finally here-- the epilogue!!
> 
> thank you all for joining us once again on this journey!
> 
> here's a quick recap of who's who in case you've forgotten:
> 
> mark - newly deified god of adventure  
> lucas - the god of war  
> yuta - the god of music and poetry  
> ten - the god of wine and partying  
> johnny - the god of love  
> jaehyun - the adonis equivalent, the god of physical attractiveness (we really took creative liberties with this one LMAO)  
> chenle - the messenger god  
> haechan - the god of magic and witchcraft and all that jazz  
> sungchan - a wandering hero, Hercules equivalent  
> yangyang - sungchan's wacky sidekick, a centaur with wings (pegasus)  
> shotaro - unfortunate centaur who keeps running into sungchan, who causes him problems
> 
> hope you all enjoy!!

Mark looks out over the vast fields in front of him, a content smile on his face. Being the god of adventure is everything he could have dreamed of. He now spends his days traveling from place to place, taking in the new sights, and lending a helping hand to the mortals who have decided to take it upon themselves to go on a quest. 

Just the other day he had helped a teenager cross some treacherous mountains and finish off his journey in order to get to the city of Athens. He kept muttering about wanting to be the next big Socrates or something. That ambition alone had been enough to make Mark’s heart swell and he hadn’t given it a second thought when helping him bypass some bandits. 

Normally though, Mark is kept to helping the merchants (both land and sea) and helping them with safe passage. He can’t do much except help lean them towards the safer route. But then again, if he spies a couple of rogues he feels no shame in letting them deal with their ‘situations’ on their own. 

An arm falls across his shoulders and Mark leans back to look up, shading the intense sunlight with his hand to get a better look. 

But when he isn’t helping those exploring the world, he can be found right next to the god of war, Lucas, his  _ boyfriend _ . 

The past six months have flown by. 

Looking down at Mark, Lucas pulls him closer with a toothy grin. 

“You done for the day now?” 

Mark hums, looking back over at the landscape. “I think so yeah. How about you?” 

Lucas snorts, following Mark’s gaze. “I was done hours ago. That war we thought might emerge was a false alarm. Just a couple of guys piss drunk and trying to have at it with each other.”

Mark slips out from under Lucas’s arm and quickly grabs the hand in his own. Pulling Lucas with him as he steps back from the edge of the cliff-top he’s overlooking everything from. “Want to have dinner at my place then?” 

“Always” Lucas replies, giving Mark’s hand a squeeze. 

Mark smiles up at Lucas when a thought hits him. “Oh! Can I rift? I’ve been practicing and think I’ve got the hang of it enough to do both of us!” 

“Absolutely not.” Lucas straight out denies, laughing. “I love you but I’m too hungry to take such a big detour as we did last time.” 

“If you  _ really  _ loved me you would let me do it.” Mark sulks, looking up at Lucas with wide eyes. 

Lucas covers his eyes with his hand and shakes his head. “Nope! Those puppy eyes of yours can’t do jack shit anymore. We should both have a bit of time tomorrow to practice together if you want.” 

Mark sighs but lets Lucas reach forward and take his hand again. He mainly gives up because he can feel his stomach growling but refuses to let Lucas know that. 

“You promise?” 

“Pinky swear,” Lucas replies, and he leans in to give Mark a quick kiss sealing the promise. 

Mark  _ definitely  _ doesn’t blush at that. 

Not at all. 

And with that, they are pulled into Lucas’ rift. 

*

Lucas does keep to his promise. The next morning, Mark and Lucas head off to find a good place for Mark to practice his rifting skills.

Surprise, surprise they end up back in that fateful forest where they spent the day gallivanting around looking for Shotaro’s precious wine. 

Not only is this forest dense enough to hide what they are doing from humans but it’s also pretty close to Mark’s parents' place. He always looks for any excuse just to see them, even if he’s technically meant to keep his distance from them being a god and all. 

“Okay!” Lucas calls out from his position a bit away from Mark. “Let’s take things easy at first and warm up. Just rift over to me.” 

_ Easy.  _ Mark thinks but gives Lucas a thumbs up anyway.  _ I’m going to land this so solidly that Lucas will have no choice but to accept that I’ve got it.  _

Thinking strongly about his destination and opening up the rift, Mark walks confidently into it and lets himself be pulled to Lucas. 

Within seconds he’s coming out of the exit next to Lucas. 

And stumbles.  _ Shit. _ He manages to catch himself before face-planting but the wobble was there. 

“You good?” Lucas asks, amused. His arms are crossed and he looks to Mark with a smirk covering his face. 

“Fantastic” Mark huffs out but then tries to make light of the situation. “But did you see that?! I came straight to you and only slightly fell. That’s a win for the books right there!” 

“I did, before you know it you’ll be the grandmaster of rifting and all us inferior beings will be bowing down to you.” Lucas sarcastically replies. 

Mark scowls at his boyfriend and reaches across to smack Lucas who only laughs and jumps out of reach. 

“Nope, get back here!” Mark exclaims, continuing to reach for Lucas with his hand raised. “Stop taking the piss out of me!” 

“Never!” Lucas shouts back as he continues to prance away from Mark. 

Laughter fills the woods as Mark and Lucas continue to chase each other. Fifteen minutes later and Mark successfully catches up to Lucas long enough to give him a good hit on the arm. In the back of his mind, he knows that Lucas slowed down but he won’t let this victory be taken away from him. Even as Lucas turns the tables and knocks him to the floor. 

Mark wheezes as Lucas lets his entire body weight fall onto him, “Get off me, you oaf! By the gods since when were you this heavy? You might not have a boyfriend by the end of this if you keep this up!” 

Mark’s pleas fall on deaf ears and Lucas continues to get his revenge for the minor assault. 

Looks like rifting practice is to be put on hold till a later date. 

  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  


Day by day activity for the gods, Lucas and Mark included, is more often than not concluded with a party.

Admittedly, Lucas has kept Mark away from the particularly rowdy gatherings. As much as he “loves” Ten and Yuta, they are notorious for pulling Lucas into tricks and shenanigans that Lucas has been bravely trying to avoid. He’s had a fairly good streak so far not doing anything notably embarrassing around Mark, and he’d like to keep it that way, thank you very much.   
  
But it’s been a long time, and he’s starting to miss the feeling of bass thrumming in his bones, nectar running in his veins. And Ten’s invitation falls at perfect timing. And Mark really,  _ really  _ wants to go.

“C’mon, we should go!” Mark insists. He picks up Ten’s invitation and waves it around as if it’s going to sway Lucas one way or another. “We hardly ever go to these things. It’d be nice to socialize. I haven’t seen some people in a while.”

“Don’t you think it’s better that way?” Lucas tries, partially joking, partially serious. There are some members of his family he’d rather avoid at all costs, if possible. At Mark’s deadpan expression, though, Lucas breaks. “Fine, yeah, we can go. Absolutely.”

And they do. Lucas even breaks away from Mark for like, a solid mortal hour to go back to his own house to try to make himself even more presentable. They reconvene at the top of the hill, where the path to Lucas’s palace and Mark’s home meet. 

“Hey,” Lucas greets. He pulls Mark’s hand into his own, offering a wide smile. “You ready?”

“Hell yeah,” Mark shoots back, grin just as wide.

Lucas swings their clasped hands back and forth. Clears his throat. “So, I should warn you.”

“Oh no,” Mark says.

“No, it’s fine,” Lucas reassures him. “For real. It’s just-- I know you’ve been up here for several months now, but… all I’m trying to say is that gods party like,  _ hard. _ ”

“Oh, I know,” Mark says. For a second, Lucas misunderstands him, thinking for some wild reason that Mark repeated himself. When the words register, Lucas whips around to gape at him, taken aback.

“Hey, woah, when have you gone partying?” Lucas asks. “Is there a side to Mark Lee I don’t know about?”

Mark flushes bright red. “No! Besides, we’re always together, so… you would know…” 

Ears burning, Mark trails off. Lucas squeezes his hand. There’s nothing about Mark Lee that Lucas  _ doesn’t  _ find cute, and yeah, maybe Lucas has spent far too much time lurking around Mark’s house. Lucas does his work! He does. But when he’s not doing his job, he’s with Mark.

And maybe Ten and Yuta got on his ass for neglecting them, but that’s neither here nor there.

“No,” Mark continues, bringing Lucas out of his reverie. “I was actually just remembering that one time in the forest, you know, when you showed up early one morning, covered from head to toe in wine dregs--”

“Shit, don’t remind me,” Lucas interrupts, suddenly bashful. That was… definitely  _ a day  _ he had. Started off rough and by the end of it, he robbed a market for Mark. Kind of a blur. 

Mark smiles wide, fond. He recalls the day’s events as though it were yesterday. “Wait, no, that was also the day you got me that giant batch of groceries after stealing my grocery list! Why did you do that, actually?” 

“Uh, hey--”

“Oh gods,” Mark blurts, coming to a stop. Lucas immediately halts, struck with worry. Mark eyes him seriously. “Did you do that… because you had a… a  _ crush  _ on me?”

They stare at each other for a solid moment straight. Then, Mark lets out a laugh. Lucas, however, finds himself in a mini-crisis.

_ Did  _ he have a crush on Mark then? At that very moment? It’s entirely possible, but-- well, he probably did, but he definitely didn’t know it--

“Wait, did you actually?” 

Lucas feels his own face start to heat up. He cast his face to the side, out of Mark’s line of sight, and struggles to locate an answer.

Luck must be on his side. This short burst of mildly embarrassing conversation has occupied just enough time to carry them all the way to Ten’s booming property. Various minor gods and nymphs loiter outside of the villa, already swaying with the telltale signs of ethereal inebriation.

“Hey, sweet, we’re here,” Lucas says, completely off-topic and totally taking it as an outlet to not out himself to his boyfriend of all people. “Let’s go find Ten.”

Mark just laughs at him and follows, hand still clutched in Lucas’s own.

Ten’s villa is filled to the brim with immortal beings. Music pounds against the walls of the house, mingled with laughter and cheerful yells. As they walk in, they encounter Renjun, who tosses them a wave. Lucas is in the midst of waving back when Ten grabs his bicep for attention.

“Hey!” Ten shouts in greeting. He shoves cups towards the two of them, incidentally sloshing wine on the floor. “You guys made it!”

“Yeah, we did--” 

Suddenly, there’s a dull ringing at the back of Lucas’s head. Grimacing, he rubs at his neck. The ringing gets louder as a result. Mark stares up at him in curiosity. Ten, however, sighs.

“You’re being called, aren’t you?”

Lucas shakes his head. “Nah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Ten readily accepts this answer and starts to tug on Lucas’s arm, but Mark stands firm. He gives Lucas a stern look. “If you’re being called, you should go.”

“Really, Mark, it’s fine,” Lucas tries. The ringing increases in volume. What kind of fucked up system is this? Sure, only so many important people can actually reach him-- or any god like this-- but hot damn if it isn’t annoying. “I know how excited you were about this.”

“Lucas, go,” Mark insists. “You can’t avoid your duties again.”

Had it come from anyone else, Lucas would have taken the remark as a low blow. But Mark  _ knows  _ what happens when Lucas slacks off, first hand. Lucas sucks in a breath. He can’t let anyone down like that. Not again.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Lucas swallows, eying Mark and Ten with concern. “Um.”

“Oh, get out of here, you dork. We’ll take good care of him, don’t you worry,” Ten teases, already latching a hand onto Mark. He tosses Lucas a wink that Lucas doesn’t like at all.

“I really don’t--”

“Go!” both Ten and Mark urge. Then Mark, offering a reassuring smile, adds, “I’ll be fine, I swear. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.” Lucas regards the unlikely duo with one last nod before reluctantly rifting to the source of his summonings.

*

Down in the land of the mortals, the sky looms orange with dusk. Smoke wafts overhead. Angered voices greet Lucas as he steps through his blood-red rift, yet they immediately fall silent at his presence.

“Alright, what--” Lucas begins, then immediately cuts himself off.

Because this. This is just infuriating. This… this isn’t a war. This isn’t even anything.

The scene laid in front of him depicts three familiar faces. Lucas isn’t happy to see any of them. 

“This isn’t a fucking war!” Lucas exclaims, throwing his hands up. “You summoned me just for-- who the fuck gave you my summoning rights?”

“Uh,” Sungchan utters back. Immediately, he offers Lucas a stiff salute. Yangyang quickly follows suit. Shotaro, however, shakes his head.   
  
“I told him not to call you,” Shotaro defends, hands up. “I told him that that was going too far--”

“Sir, Lucas, sir,” Sungchan clears his throat. “We seem to have a problem and seek your advice.”

_ You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.  _ Interrupting party time with Mark for  _ this?  _ Absolute nonsense? Scoffing, Lucas comes to terms with his fate and crosses his arms.

“Yeah, whatever. What’s up?”

  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  


The bass of the music thrums through Mark as he is dragged through the huge villa. Ten holds Mark’s hand firmly in one hand and in the other a cup full to the brim with wine as he weaves them through the crowd. 

Although he told Lucas he’d be fine, Mark cannot help the nerves that are rising up being in such a foreign environment. Even as a mortal, Mark was never one to go to parties. And not just because he was never invited… He’d just never seen what was so great about being in a stuffy room with the aim to get hammered off some drinks. 

Mark scans the room, trying to take in as much of it as possible. Because of this, he isn’t paying full attention to where he’s being taken by Ten and bumps into somebody. 

“Woah dude, I’m so sorry!” Mark gets out quickly as he is unable to stop with Ten plowing forward. “Wait, Chenle?!”

“Mark!” Chenle exclaims, and as Mark starts to get pulled further into the crowd he adds, “Wait, stop! I want to have a catch-up!” 

Mark looks at Ten and back to Chenle and suddenly leans back to grab Chenle by the wrist, “Come with us then.” 

Although Mark is very appreciative of Ten taking him under his wing until Lucas gets back, he hasn’t spent any time alone with Lucas’s rowdy bunch of friends. By bringing Chenle with him not only can Mark catch up with the messenger god but he can also use him as a safety net. 

Seeing as Ten knows where he’s going, Mark lets himself and Chenle be pulled all the way out of the main hall and into a smaller room off to the side. He clicks the door behind him and the booming sounds quieten significantly. 

“I’m back!” Ten cries out to the others in the room. “And I brought Mark!” Ten looks back and sees Chenle, and a smirk graces his face. “Oh, and apparently also this little shit head as well.” He skips further into the room, bringing Mark with him as cheers rise up from the mention of Mark’s arrival. 

Sprawled over the various klinai, some even sitting happily on the floor, Mark grins and waves at everyone as he approaches them. 

“Yo Mark!” Jaehyun calls out, “Come here!” He pats the space next to him. “I’ve even saved a drink for you and Lucas. So where the fucker?” 

Mark clambers over Yuta who seems to be in his own little world on the floor, and drops down next to Jaehyun. Chenle follows suit and manages to squeeze in next to Mark at the end. 

“The loser was called to work as soon as he got here” Ten complains as he falls onto Johnny’s lap who sits on the klinai opposite Mark. Some of the wine from his drink spills over onto the seat. “I thought I had trained him better than that. But alas, it seems that his little Markie poo has more influence now.” 

Jaehyun whistles, “Ahhh I see.” He puts an arm around Mark who blushes from the attention. “So you’ve got our Lucas wrapped around your finger have you?” 

Mark shrugs and laughs it off. “I wouldn’t say completely…” 

“Oh, he does!” Chenle pipes up, grinning in amusement. “Not sure about you guys but whenever I’m with them they both can’t take their eyes off each other for a second!” 

“Oh yes, it’s the same with us!” Johnny says, leaning his chin on Ten’s shoulder as he smirks, “I don’t even know why we bother trying to hang out with them anymore.” 

The others laugh and start to chip in with their own pieces. Mark feels the tips of his ears begin to burn from the embarrassment and looks down at the cup in his hands, full to the brim with strong wine. He brings it up to his lips and takes a good swig of it, grimacing as it slightly burns his throat. 

“Pay no attention to them,” Yuta says from the floor, holding onto one of Mark’s legs. “They’re all just jealous that they’re past this point in their own relationships. They wish they were as smitten as you and Lucas.” 

“Hey!” Chenle cries out in response, “I’m not in a relationship!” 

Yuta waves off Chenle, “Yeah, well then you’re just bitter cause you’re not getting anything. Who would want to date an annoying little gremlin like yourself anyway?” 

Chenle screeches and dives off the klinai onto Yuta. Mark quickly pulls his legs up to avoid the carnage and takes another drink of the wine whilst he’s at it. Not being a big drinker, Mark is already feeling slightly buzzed from the small amount he’s already had. Turns out that simply being deified didn’t mean he’s immune to this freakishly strong shit all these gods like to chug down like water. 

Relaxing back, Mark laughs at a joke Jaehyun makes at Yuta and Chenle, both of them still wrestling it out on the floor. 

He just hopes it doesn’t take Lucas too long to get whatever is needed sorted out. 

*

“Get on the fucking floor!” 

Mark is in a fit of laughter as Ten tries to convince Chenle to let Yuta take a body shot off of him. 

“No way!” Chenle slurs, “Why does it have to be me?” 

“Because that’s the rules!” Ten cries out, very drunk himself. “You picked dare, so you have to do it.” 

“What, are you scared?” Johnny mocks from his seat, shirtless and his hair a mess. Both him and Ten had left for a while earlier and had returned in a bit of a state. Mark doesn’t want to even think about what the couple might have gotten up to. 

“I’m  _ not  _ scared.” Chenle seethes. And to prove his point he pulls his shirt off and quickly lies down on the floor. “There. Drink from my damn belly-button then Yuta!” 

“If I must.” Yuta sighs. The amusement in his eyes gives away how much he’s enjoying this, however. “And don’t worry” He continues as he crawls closer to Chenle, “I won’t bite. Well, unless you want me to” He gives Chenle a wicked grin. 

“Fuck no! That’s not the deal! Ten tell him!” Chenle yells, ready to pummel the god of music and dance again. 

Mark’s attention is taken away from the unruly pair as Ten plops down next to him. Like Johnny, his hair is all out of sorts and his shirt is missing a button or two. 

“This is fun!” Ten breathes out, “If only Lucas was here though. It’s not the same without him.” 

Mark can’t help but feel the same way. As he takes another sip of his drink, he realises how much he misses Lucas’s warm presence next to him. 

“Man, it’s been like  _ forever  _ since we’ve held one of those orgy parties.” 

Mark almost spits out his drink. 

Just how drunk is he? Did Ten just say orgy?

He looks at Ten with wide eyes who hasn’t clocked on to Mark’s reaction yet. 

“Those were the days huh. Hey Jaehyun, you want to come back with me and Johnny tonight?” Ten looks across to Jaehyun who is leaning against Johnny. “We were both talking about it earlier and you know…” 

Jaehyun hums in agreement, eyes sparkling, and sidles up closer to Johnny who in turn smirks and puts an arm around him. 

_ Wait.  _ Mark’s brain starts to catch up with him  _ But isn’t Jaehyun with Taeyong? And why are Ten and Johnny looking to have Jaehyun over as well?  _

“Oh yay!” Ten exclaims, getting up and crossing the short distance to lounge across both of them. He then directs the question to Johnny “Do you think we should invite anyone else babe? Remember that one nymph Thetis? She was  _ amazing,  _ maybe we should try to find her again?” 

“Maybe not tonight.” Johnny comments, leaning in closer to Ten. “Want you both to myself.” 

Ten giggles turn to moans as Johnny starts to grope him, and Mark swiftly looks down at his almost empty cup, his face bright red. He’d never thought about it. It had never come up with Lucas yet and he thought they had been perfectly happy as they were. But did Lucas also do this? Does he still want to be a part of this?

Mark feels a viscous knot tighten in the pit of his stomach at the thought. Just the thought of Lucas with someone else makes him feel sick. If he’s had this lifestyle before, then why doesn’t he want it with Mark? 

Mark wonders if there’s something he’s missing. Thinking about it, he always gets that tingly feeling whenever Lucas is close but neither of them have ever pushed it to go further. 

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when Yuta and Chenle both land on the klinai next to him, slightly out of breath themselves. 

“What’s up Mark?” Chenle asks, giving him a cheeky grin. “You feeling alright? Your face is looking a bit pale.” 

Mark quickly glances over across the room and back, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. 

“Ah, I see,” Chenle says with understanding. “This is your first party right?” 

Mark nods, cheeks still aflame. He leans closer to the both of them and whispers, “Do you guys really have… you know…  _ orgies _ ?” 

Yuta barks out a laugh, his head falling back. “Duh! What, had Lucas never told you about this shit? He’s the one that’s probably gotten around the most as well, being single for so long. If I remember correctly he even managed to convince Jaemin and Jeno one time.” 

Mark’s brain stops working and that nasty gut-wrenching feeling is back in full force. 

“Jaemin and Jeno…” Mark breathes out, “You mean the god of the underworld and his hellhound bodyguard, boyfriend, whatever he is?”   
  
“The very ones!” Yuta happily replies, chugging down the remainder of his own cup and then getting up to refill it. 

_ So what? Has Lucas literally had sex with everyone?  _

Mark looks over to Chenle who is humming to himself and narrows his eyes. “Oi, Chenle. So have you done the deed with Lucas?” 

Chenle stops humming and looks at Mark sheepishly. “Uh, maybe.” Mark closes his eyes and sighs. He really doesn’t know how he feels about all this. He knows he has no right to be pissed about Lucas’ choices before they met but he can’t help the raging fire of jealousy that is burning up in him. “But only once!” Chenle hastily continues. “And we were both fucking drunk and very high. Not something I’d like to repeat again.” 

Mark puts his head in his hands, unsure what to do. By the gods as a couple they haven’t gotten past kissing and cuddling, and he had been content with that. They literally have all the time in the world anyway. But hearing about Lucas’ past life, Mark can’t help but worry that the god of war is going to get bored of him if that’s what he really wants. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

The whole excursion down to the mortal realm to entertain a trio of people Lucas could’ve happily never laid eyes on again lasts  _ far  _ too long, and by the time all is said and done, he’s mentally exhausted. Sungchan struck again with another bout of impromptu thievery, and apparently, there was some extra beef that developed between the last time Lucas saw them and now, so really, the mostly-mortal trio dragged him all over the region looking for points of evidence to damn the other party. 

  
Straight up, Lucas doesn’t care. Resolving petty issues is  _ not  _ in his jurisdiction thank-you-very-much, but there’s never a good opportunity to leave. So it takes hours. Literal hours. And like. Lucas  _ wanted  _ to party, but now all he wants to do is grab Mark from Ten’s and sneak away back to Mark’s house to cuddle. Mark’s house is quiet and warm and distinctly Jaehyun-free, and it feels more like a home than Lucas’s palace ever did.

It could also have something to do with it being  _ Mark’s,  _ but that’s neither here nor there.

Lucas opts to rift on the outskirts of Ten’s property, over by where the Muses huddle around a sick turntable spinning beats. Although the music still booms loud and proud, it’s obvious that the party is in its downward spiral. Inebriated figures stumble into one another as they loiter about the villa. Most of the big-name gods are gone.

With a goal in mind, Lucas pushes past the majority of milling partygoers towards Ten’s favorite andron. It’s the one they usually hide out in when they’re not huddled away in Ten’s elusive bedroom. Wine dregs and smashed fruits dot the floor in clumps. Lucas carefully side-steps these obstacles, heart pounding at the anticipation of seeing Mark.

One last step and he’s in the doorway. Yuta waves back. It’s only half as full as Lucas expected it to be, which causes him to quirk a brow in curiosity.

Also, Chenle is here?

“Ayoooo, Lucas, you finally made it,” Yuta drawls, pushing himself up haphazardly from where he had been slumped on the floor. “You missed the best part!”

Lucas glances between Chenle, Yuta, and Mark. Chenle offers an enthusiastic wave as he chats with Mark in hushed tones. Mark, however, offers Lucas a tiny smile, eyes stuck on Chenle. 

Odd. Lucas brushes it off. He knew leaving Mark here on his own was a bad move. All the gods probably spooked him with their intense, overwhelming amount of drinking, and Lucas wasn’t here to buffer any of their nonsense, so there’s no telling what came out of Ten’s drunken blabbermouth--

“Yeah, well. I wish I could’ve stayed here,” Lucas shoots back dryly. 

“You want something to drink then? I think Jaehyun’s amphora still has a bit left--”

Lucas scoffs. Fucking Jaehyun. “No, it’s fine. Honestly, I’m probably just going to go home. I’m only here to get Mark.”

Yuta and Chenle both erupt in an obnoxious set of coos. Mark, slightly red, slips off the klinai and inches over to Lucas, who offers his hand.

There’s a delay, but Mark takes it nonetheless. When Lucas squeezes, Mark doesn’t squeeze back.

“Well, have fun by yourselves!” Yuta teases, winking, fluttering his fingers in a flirty wave.

“Bye, Mark!” Chenle calls.

“Bye, guys,” Mark replies. He looks up to Lucas with another smile, but for some reason, Mark  _ still  _ won’t quite meet Lucas’s eyes. “I’m good when you are.”

Something’s obviously up. Lucas eyes Mark for a moment before nodding. With one last wave to the two drunken occupants, Lucas guides his boyfriend out of the mess. 

Outside of the villa reigns peace. Stars glitter overhead. The pounding bass fades with each passing step, resulting in what Lucas hoped would be a comfortable silence.

He is wrong.

His glances toward Mark cannot possibly be subtle. Lucas starts to panic, thinking he royally fucked up in some way or another. 

“Hey, sorry about earlier. I didn’t want to leave you there, so--”

“It’s okay,” Mark says, swiftly, almost curtly. His expression is tight with thought. “I told you to go, anyway.” A pause. “How was it?”

Okay, this is a step. Toward what direction, Lucas isn’t certain. He responds truthfully, letting his irritation at the trouble trio leak through. “Horrible! I don’t even know why I was there! Sungchan-- gods, I don’t know  _ who  _ gave him my summoning rights, but when I find out I’m going to--” Cutting himself off, Lucas shakes his head, reorienting his tirade. “Yeah, so, they call me down, because apparently, Sungchan stole the centaur wine a _ gain,  _ and I guess the situation got really messy, I don’t know, I wasn’t really paying attention, but they wanted me to resolve it, and…” 

Lucas sneaks a look over at Mark and trails off. He lowers his voice. “Hey, Mark. Are you okay?”

Mark perks up. He forces another smile, which, oof, ouch. “Yeah, why?”

“Did… did something happen? At the party?” Lucas asks, tentative. “If someone said or--or did something to you, tell me. I’ll take care of it, I swear.”

“No, Lucas,” Mark replies softly. “No, nothing like that.”

But… but something  _ is  _ wrong, so clearly something happened. Something  _ had  _ to have happened. Frantically, Lucas tries to think of anything that his disastrous group of friends could do that could have Mark so… subdued.

“Oh fuck, did Ten offend you? He gets super loose-lipped if he’s really drunk, sometimes he lets things slip because he thinks being mean is funny.” Already, ire at his friend blooms. They all  _ know  _ how serious he is about Mark, and Ten promised he’d  _ take care of Mark,  _ so what could have happened? “Or, wait, was it something Jaehyun said? He jokes about his mortal life too easily sometimes, he’s gotten real high and mighty since his apotheosis, sorry if he said something dark or whatever--”

Mark tugs on Lucas’s hand and shakes his head. They’re almost to the top of the hill now, right at the halfway point between their houses. The moon casts a pretty luminescent glow on Mark’s mixed expression. Once again, the god of adventure tries for a smile. Lucas can see right through him.

“Lucas, it’s okay, really. Nothing bad happened. I’m just tired, I think.” Mark shrugs a little. “Parties aren’t… really my scene, so. Yeah. I mean, I had fun though. I did!” he insists at Lucas’s doubtful frown. “I just… yeah. Tired.”

Something is  _ wrong  _ wrong. Mark’s lying. The only issue is, Lucas can’t figure out how  _ much  _ Mark is lying, and how much he’s opting not to say.

“Yeah, okay,” Lucas replies, nodding, going for supportive. It’s the best he can offer right now since Mark isn’t ready to come clean with whatever’s on his mind. He breaks out a reassuring smile. “You wanna hang out? We can, you know… whatever you want to do.”

Lucas sees Mark’s expression shift, and he keeps his hopes up, only for them to come crashing down when Mark shakes his head.

“I’m… actually really tired tonight,” Mark says, adding a laugh. It’s so forced that each word feels like a punch to Lucas’s gut. “Sorry. Meet up tomorrow?”

The world shifts, just enough to make Lucas feel thoroughly unsettled. Mark’s upset, and it definitely has to do with him. And since Lucas wasn’t there, it either falls on the fact that Lucas had to go-- which Mark assured him it didn’t-- or somebody said something, as they are prone to do, and now it’s driven a wedge between them.

The only issue is, Lucas has no idea  _ what,  _ and Mark isn’t willing to tell him.

Fire. Rage. Not at Mark, but at Sungchan, who apparently summoned Lucas at the perfect time to fuck everything up.

“Yeah, sure.” Lucas’s voice sounds wrong to his own ears. He tries to smile. It doesn’t work. “See you tomorrow, then.”

Lucas releases Mark’s hand. Mark offers a tiny wave and slinks away, down the hill toward his tiny, cozy cottage, with the warm fire and the soft blankets. And Lucas stands at the top of the hill, feeling dazed and robbed because something is wrong and for some reason, he can’t fix it.

  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  


Something Mark learns the next morning is that not even gods are immune to hangovers, especially if the alcohol they are drinking is specifically made for them. Groaning, Mark stubbornly withholds from getting out of bed, his head refusing to stop the incessant pounding. 

Blinking wearily over to the other side of the bed, Mark is surprised to see that Lucas isn’t still in bed with him. Mark is always the first up, and more often than not can only tempt Lucas out of bed with breakfast. 

Mark stands up, his head spinning slightly, and walks down the corridor from his bedroom to the bathroom. Popping his head through the door after knocking, he’s surprised to see no Lucas. 

Maybe he’s downstairs… 

Stumbling down the stairs, Mark walks into the kitchen hopeful that maybe Lucas had taken it upon himself to cook breakfast. 

Again, not a god of war in sight… 

Mark shrugs his shoulders and quickly pours himself a cup of water before sitting at the table. He takes a few sips, his body profusely thanking him for finally hydrating, and thinks back to the night before. 

To begin with, bits and pieces are a blur. He must have drunk more wine than he thought. 

But then it clicks. 

Mark’s head falls to the table with a thud and he moans out of embarrassment. 

Did he really not let Lucas in last night? 

Thinking about that though makes the ball of jealousy reappear within him. He suddenly vividly remembers the stories of Lucas’ past affairs and how much “he loved to get around and try new things” (Yuta’s exact words). 

Sure maybe he was a  _ bit  _ upset about finding this all out, but did his drunken self really have to kick him out?! Now Lucas is going to know something is up and will continue to press till Mark caves. 

Shit… 

With the sun having only just arisen, Mark knows he’s got some time before Lucas gets up and he will inevitably come over. 

Chugging down the rest of his water, Mark is pouring himself some more when there’s a banging on the door. 

Lucas? Already?

Mark places the cup down and shuffles over to the front door. He lets out a sigh of relief when he sees who it is. 

“Mark!” Chenle cries, “How’s the hangover treating you, buddy?” 

Mark gives him a sarcastic thumbs up and also waves to Haechan who is bouncing on his feet in anticipation behind Chenle. 

“Come in I guess,” Mark says, opening the door wider. “I was just about to make breakfast.” 

*

Food demolished, the three of them lean back in their chairs satisfied. 

“So.” Chenle starts with a shit-eating grin, “Want to tell me what that was all about yesterday?” 

Mark starts to clear up the plates as a way to keep himself busy and plays ignorant. “What about yesterday?” 

“Ooo I want to hear!” Haechan exclaims, “I can’t wait to hear all about how my darling protege has gone to his first big boy party.”

“It seems,” Chenle starts, side-eyeing Mark who is finishing up stacking the plates. “That our boy Mark was a bit jealous.” 

Haechan gasps dramatically, “Oh really? Tell me more!” 

Chenle hums, “Yes. It seems that Mark had yet to hear about Lucas’s many _ , many,  _ past relationships, hookups, whatever you may call them.” 

“Wait?” Haechan asks, looking over to Mark. “He hadn’t told you? Surely that’s come up when you guys have sex?” 

Mark almost drops the plates he is carrying and quickly disposes of them on the counter. “Well, you see.. The thing is… we haven’t exactly gone all the way yet…” 

Haechan coos, “Aww, of course, you can take your time. But surely it should have come up even if you haven't gone all the way?” Mark looks away sheepishly. Haechan narrows his eyes, “Unless, how far have you gone Mark?” 

“Um, we’ve kissed?” Mark answers, Haechan nods, asking him to continue. “And cuddled?” 

Haechan looks to Chenle who nods to confirm what Mark has said and looks back to Mark. “Sit down, it looks like we need a chat.” 

Mark slumps back down into his vacated seat and holds his head in his hands. He takes a second before opening the floodgates, “It’s not like I was even pressed about going all the way., we’ve got all the time we want for that. I hadn’t even thought about it till last night. I thought I was happy the way things were, I thought Lucas was happy too! But what if he wants more but doesn’t want that for me? Is he going to start going back to that? Cause I’m all here for you guys doing what feels right but I don’t think I can share Lucas with anyone else…” 

“From what I can see” Chenle starts, “Lucas is really happy with you Mark. Before he met you all he would do was get wasted and bunk off from doing his job. These past 6 months he’s smiled so much that it is actually scaring all of us!” Haechan hums in agreement at that. “I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“BUT!” Haechan cuts in before Mark can even get his head around that. He leans in closer to Mark with a smirk on his face. “Do you  _ want  _ to go further? Is this what it’s all really about? Cause if you do then it’s killing two birds with one stone. You get to have sex and you’re jealousy of Lucas with other people will fade!” 

“I-I-I” Mark stutters, his face going a dark shade of red. “Maybe?” Before last night he never even considered it really. Sure he wants to be as close to Lucas as possible, and he does get that feeling whenever Lucas holds him close and gently kisses him. And maybe he also does wish Lucas wouldn’t pull away as soon as he did… 

“Ooo you do don’t you?” Haechan teases from across him. “You’ve gone bright red just thinking about it!” 

Yeah. Mark does. He wants to be with Lucas in every sense possible without holding back. “What do I do? I’ve never, you know, gone the whole way before…” 

Haechan rubs his hands together in glee, “You’re going to march over to his house right now and tell him how you feel! There’s no point in wasting any time!” 

“Okay, okay.” Chenle coaxes, signaling at Haechan to calm down who is vibrating with anticipation in his seat. “Good plan.  _ But,  _ Mark’s just come to terms with this shit, maybe he should give it a day or two to really think it--”

“I’ll do it!” Mark suddenly shouts, getting up from out of his seat as he starts to pace around the kitchen. “Oh god, yeah I’m going to do it right now. No need to overthink it.” 

“--over…” Chenle slowly finishes. “Are you sure about this Mark?” 

“Hell yeah, he’s sure!” Haechan cries out, flinging his arms in the air. “Oh, I’m so proud that my baby boy is growing up!” 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Mark says to Chenle. His nerves show when his voice cracks slightly. “Okay, I’m going to rift out. Stay here as long as you like.” 

Without giving it a second thought, Mark lands in front of Lucas’s house. He stumbles but with his adrenaline rush he doesn’t even pay attention to that. Walking up to the front entrance it is only then that Mark realises that he left without even getting changed. He’s still in his pyjamas. 

Fuck it. No time to go back. He could lose the nerve if he did that. 

Knocking on the door, Mark waits for Lucas to come open it. He has no idea what he’s going to say yet but you bet he’s not leaving this damn house till he and Lucas work through some shit and do the deed! 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  


Lucas wakes up to Jaehyun’s face peering down at him. 

“Holy fuck,” Lucas blurts, jolting back. “When the fuck did you get here?”

Jaehyun shrugs. “Uh, an hour ago.” He looks like a hot mess, clothes wrinkled, hair mussed, skin littered in tiny pink-red marks. Before Lucas can comment on the obvious state of disarray, Jaehyun clears his throat and jerks a thumb over his shoulder, toward the doorway. “Mark’s downstairs.”

“What the--” Lucas utters. Memories from last night rush forward all too clearly, considering they plagued his mind last night. Thank Chaos he doesn’t actually  _ need  _ sleep to function. Regardless, he’s been wired since Mark left him atop that hill the night before. Hope skyrockets. “Get out, I need to get ready.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jaehyun grumbles as he waves Lucas off, probably slinking to wherever it is he hides in Lucas’s massive house. With speed rivaling Chenle’s, Lucas puts on a fresh set of garments. He runs his hand through his hair a few times before giving up entirely. Mark has certainly seen him in worse states, and like  _ hell  _ is Lucas going to keep Mark waiting.

With pep in his step, Lucas bounds down his stairs and into the main chamber where Mark lingers, eyes glued to one of the tamer battle murals. When he senses the god of war, Mark turns, smiling sheepishly.

“Hey,” Mark greets, soft. He shuffles awkwardly. If it were any other day, Lucas would go in straight for a hug, but he holds back, tentative. Mark flushes red. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah, of course,” Lucas replies. He gestures to the plethora of cushions and couches. Mark hesitates for a lone minute before nodding to himself. He plops down on a red couch and pats the space beside him, which Lucas takes. They resituate to face one another. “What’s up?”

“I’m just-- I’m sorry,” Mark blurts. “Like, really really sorry. I don’t know  _ what  _ was up yesterday, I don’t know why I acted like that to you--”

Lucas shakes his head, grinning. Mark’s words soothe the seed of anxiety that had been growing like a weed at the back of his mind. “No, Mark, it’s okay, really--”

“It isn’t, but…” Mark trails off. Laughs. Fidgets. “It wasn’t fair of me. And I just want you to know that I’m really sorry, and you didn’t deserve that.”

“Mark.” Lucas reaches across the distance between them and takes Mark’s smaller hand in his own. “It’s okay, really. We all have days like that sometimes.”

Mark nods, gnawing on his lip. He casts his gaze down at their hands. The blush is back. 

“There’s something else I want to talk to you about.”

Ah. Here it is. Hopefully, if Lucas is lucky, this will be whatever was bothering Mark yesterday. And then they can thoroughly clear the air and work things out and move on. 

“Yeah, anything.”

Mark doesn’t reply right away. He clears his throat.

“Oh, gods, maybe I can’t,” Mark fumbles, laughing uneasily. “I should’ve waited. This is embarrassing.” 

Wilting a bit, Lucas squeezes Mark’s hand in reassurance. He tries not to let any disappointment show on his face. “Take as long as you need.”

“No, it’s-- I just need to get this out in the air, I think.” Mark pauses, nodding to himself. “Okay, yeah. So. Um. At the party yesterday--”

Lucas remains motionless, but in his head, he finds himself warring for a mental fist bump either into the air or into Ten’s gut. Because fuck  _ yes  _ he was right, but this means the god of wine failed to do his job and is therefore to blame.

“-- I, uh. Heard some stuff about you.”

Poof. There it is. Lucas sucks in a breath, preparing for the worst. 

“And I, uh, think we should talk about it,” Mark continues, successfully dodging the topic entirely. The conversational obstacle course has Lucas fumbling, and he tries to guess where the topic may go before Mark gets there. 

Yet nothing Lucas conjures to mind prepares him for what Mark says next.

“So… somebody brought up orgies yesterday, and it may have come up that you… did that sort of thing, and I’m… worried that you might be disappointed with me because we haven’t done anything like that at all. Or… yeah.” Mark’s words come out in a breathy rush, and he sucks in air once he’s done, eyes wide and face red. 

_ Oh.  _ That. Yeah, okay. Lucas has a bit of a track record when it comes to getting around. What can he say? He’s the god of war. His emotions tend to be more volatile than anyone else. Never have these one-night stands of lust and power lasted beyond that. He hadn’t thought much of these encounters before, but now something sour blossoms within him.

“And I--”

“Mark,” Lucas interrupts, calmly. Mark… he may be a god, now, but he’s still got a mortal heart. These practices are nothing if not foreign to him. “Those were... that’s not who I am anymore. I… wouldn’t do that to you.” If Mark has even an inkling of a doubt about Lucas being faithful to him, Lucas needs to fix that  _ right away. _

Mark blinks, words dying on his tongue. “You wouldn’t?”   
  


Okay, ouch. Like, for real. “No, Mark, I wouldn’t,” Lucas reaffirms. What the hell did those fuckers at Ten’s party even say? “Why would you even think that about me?”

“Well,” Mark quickly counters, tone turning sour. “Apparently you’ve been with literally everyone I know here,  _ including  _ Jeno and Jaemin, so I just figured that you were, I don’t know, active. And wanted that from me.”

First Mark has doubts about him being faithful, and now there’s this notion that Lucas expects Mark to have sex with him? He’s going to  _ kill  _ Ten.

“Mark, no.” Lucas stares at Mark, offended. “I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to.” He throws up a hand, feeling utterly disrespected. “Did you really think that about me?”  _ Did you really think so low of me, that I would treat you like that? _

Mark swallows. Shifts again. Pauses. He drops his gaze to the couch again, to that tiny space between them that now feels like a chasm.

“Sorry, I… nevermind. I… think I’m gonna go.”

“Hey, Mark, what?” Lucas blurts. Mark slips his hand out of Lucas’s grip, expression tight. “I don’t get it. There’s no rush or anything, I don’t want you to think I’m going to force you into something. What’s wrong?”

Blinking, Mark shuffles through a series of emotions before eventually shaking his head. “It’s… not important anymore. I’m… I’ll see you later. Yeah.” He glances at Lucas one last time before ducking his head and strolling toward the exit. Lucas remains still as a statue, eyes glued to the spot Mark just vacated.

What in the  _ hell  _ just happened, and why does Lucas feel like he fucked up worse than before?

“That was pretty pathetic,” Jaehyun’s voice rings out. The not-god peels away from the column he stood leaning against, expression deadpan. “You really just did that, didn’t you.”

“Fuck you,” Lucas hisses back. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Rifting back to his house in the state he’s in was definitely a dangerous move. But considering what Lucas had just said, Mark wanted nothing more than to run back to his bed. He storms into his house, eyesight beginning to blur with tears, and hurries up the stairs to his room. 

“Mark?” A voice calls out from behind him. “What happened? Why are you back so soon?”   
  
Shit. Looks like Chenle and Haechan took his invitation to stay as long as they like quite literally. 

“Nothing!” Mark shouts back as he reaches his bedroom door. His hand slightly shakes as he tries to open it up. “But I’m not feeling too great so you guys might want to head off.” 

He falls straight into bed, still unmade from early this morning, and cocoons himself up underneath the covers. Struggling to stay quiet, a few sobs leave Mark’s mouth as he battles with his emotions. 

Lucas really just turned him down point-blank. Mark took his shot and Lucas deflected it right back, piercing through his heart. What are they even doing then? If Lucas doesn’t see them progress any further than they already have then is he really attracted to Mark?

Just thinking about Lucas’s face and how it turned to stone when Mark tried to bring up the possibility of them going further makes more tears run down his cheeks. 

“I don’t know about you Haechan” Chenle comments from the entrance to Mark’s bedroom. “But I’m smelling some pretty strong bullshit.” 

“I’m fine guys, really,” Mark says as calmly as possible from under the covers. “I just don’t feel that well…” Mark cringes as his voice cracks slightly at the end and curls up into a tighter ball. 

Unable to see the other two, Mark listens to the silence and hopes that means that they took his advice and left. But that hope is crushed when he feels the bed dip from their weight. 

“What really happened at Lucas’s Mark?” Haechan softly asks, bringing his hand up to pet Mark’s head through the covers. 

“Yeah, you were so hyped and everything you know” Chenle adds from the other side. 

“He just… He…” Mark tries to get out the words, but they are stuck in his throat. 

“What did he do?” Haechan asks, still trying to comfort Mark through the duvet. 

“HE REJECTED ME!” Mark sobs, the gates now open wide. “I asked him and he said ‘oh I would never do that to you Mark’. Like he’s obviously a pretty sexual person so why doesn’t he want to do it with me?! What’s wrong with me?!” 

During Mark’s  _ minor  _ meltdown, his head emerges from the safety of his covers and he looks at both of his friends with desperate eyes. 

“He did  _ what _ ?” Haechan asks. It’s obvious he’s trying to stay calm for Mark’s sake but there is fury behind his eyes and one of his fists is clenched into the sheets. 

“But that doesn’t sound right.” Chenle comments from the end of the large bed. “It’s literally common knowledge that Lucas adores the crap out of you so why would he do that?” 

“I don’t know!” Mark cries. He’s tired and hungover, so the tears are near impossible to stop at this point. If he wasn’t feeling so shit to begin with then maybe he’d have a better handle on his emotions, but everything is just going to shit right now. “Maybe he doesn’t  _ adore  _ me as a partner but as a friend. Holy shit was I just  _ friendzoned  _ by my boyfriend?!” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Haechan states, “let’s get not too ahead of ourselves here. Did he see you were upset when you left?” Mark solidly nods his head in agreement, sniffling and rubbing his eyes red. “Okay. So let’s give him a day to get his shit together and if not then plan B.” 

Haechan looks to Chenle who hums in approval. 

Mark looks between them, his eyes wide. “What’s plan B?” 

“We” Chenle points at himself and Haechan, “will go and make sure Lucas regrets the very day he was born.”

“I’ve got some real good spells I’ve been  _ dying  _ to try out” Haechan maliciously chuckles whilst rubbing his hands together. “I can’t wait to make him beg he wasn’t an immortal god who’s incapable of dying.”

Suddenly, Mark is very glad he’s close to these two gods and not an enemy. 

“Um, well that’s great.” Mark comments, “But isn’t that a little extreme for a plan B? Isn’t that more of a plan E or something?!”

“Nothing is too harsh when it comes to defending the injustice our dear Mark has experienced!” Chenle declares, looking very determined to carry out the plan. 

Mark can’t help but laugh at his two friends and the ridiculous extreme they plan to go to. Although he still feels very embarrassed and all-round pretty shit, Mark is thankful to have both of them here to coax him out of bed. 

“Fine.” Mark replies with a small grin. “But you have to promise to wait a  _ whole  _ day before you take any action.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  


Of course, as the two of them are prone to do whenever the other fucks up in some capacity or other, Jaehyun gloats.

“You’re being stupid right now,” Jaehyun says, voice loud and proud and bouncing from every single wall in the house just so the words resonate within Lucas’s core. “Like, really stupid. You look so stupid it’s embarrassing. I can’t believe you just did that.” Then he’s laughing, because fuck Jaehyun. “Oh my god, I gotta tell Johnny.”

“You’re not telling anyone shit,” Lucas nearly growls, swiping at Jaehyun the next time he walks within arm’s reach. Lucas hasn’t moved an inch since Mark left, too drained and dumbfounded to make an effort to do literally anything else. “And seriously Jaehyun? Fuck you.”

Jaehyun dodges his attack with some fancy footwork and a smirk. “Sorry, not interested.”

“I’ve had it with you, you--”

“But your boy is.”

Lucas cuts himself off, brow furrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Mark’s interested,” Jaehyun states, plainly. Lucas blinks. “That’s literally what he came here for. If you had, I don’t know, been less of an idiot, you would’ve noticed.”

That… no. That’s not what was happening at all. 

“I don’t…”

Wait. Is it?

The words die on his tongue and he replays the conversation from moments prior in his head. Then he does it again, and again, and again, until the words start to make sense and the tension in his brow gives way to astonishment.

“You’re kidding,” Lucas breathes out, suddenly feeling very hot and very cold all at once. His heart pumps at the speed of light, rattling his rib cage. Eyes wide, he turns to Jaehyun, who stares back in equal amazement. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“I’m not.”

“So,” Lucas starts, only slightly shaking. Only slightly. His gaze darts between Jaehyun and Mark’s long-vacated spot. “So… you mean to tell me… that Mark…”

“Yes, Mark.”

“That he showed up to talk about my past, uh,” Lucas coughs. Rubs at the back of his neck. “Because he wants to have sex with me?”

“Because he wants to have sex with you,” Jaehyun repeats in affirmation.

Oh, gods. Oh, holy fucking gods. That-- that’s a lot to take in.

Mark Lee, adorable, recently deified Mark Lee, who only learned about the gods like, what, ten months ago, who died in a battle because of Lucas, who cuddles up to him every night, who sneaks kisses when Lucas isn’t paying attention, who… 

Some very inappropriate images flash across Lucas’s brain. Heat rushes to his face.

Fuck.  _ Fuck, _ that… 

“Oh fuck, I’m so stupid,” Lucas babbles out, facepalming. “Holy fucking shit am I stupid. Oh, gods, how did I miss that.”

“Want me to smack some sense into you?” Jaehyun offers, entirely unhelpfully, because he’s still smirking, that bastard.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not.” Abruptly, Lucas launches off the couch, frantically pacing around the room. “No, I need to-- I need to say something, or… shit, how do I fix this? How--”

Jaehyun shakes his head slowly. “ _ You  _ don’t get to do anything.  _ You  _ need to sit your ass back down, and let the professional work his magic.”

“Like hell, I’m leaving this to you!” Lucas storms up to Jaehyun, preparing to shove him, to punch the wall, to do  _ something,  _ because  _ fuck  _ did he mess this up. Really bad.

Oh, no. Oh, gods no. What if this messed things up really bad? So bad that Mark doesn’t want to see him anymore? Shit, Mark probably thinks Lucas isn’t into him like that. But Lucas is, for real, he just thought Mark was afraid of intimacy or something, and oh no, oh Lucas really messed this one up. He needs to come clean. Immediately.

“I don’t like that look on your face.”

Lucas glares at the resident not-god, flipping him off. “Fuck  _ off,  _ Jae, I need to--”

“Go sit in your room,” Jaehyun interrupts,  _ sternly.  _ He grabs Lucas by the shoulders, meeting his eye. “Trust me, Lucas. Let me do this for you, okay?”

Energy thrums in his racing blood. Emotions soaring, eyes blazing. Lucas shakes with the frantic need to  _ go go go to Mark  _ yet Jaehyun keeps his hold firm. Stares back until Lucas lets out a bit of the anxious breath he’d been holding in.

“Can I trust you?” Lucas asks.

Jaehyun regards him for a minute. “If you don’t trust me to do anything else, at least trust me to do this.”

A beat. Loosening his hold, Jaehyun backs up. Lucas struggles to calm his racing heart.

“Just… go upstairs. Give me a few hours. It’ll be okay.”

If anyone asks in the future whether Lucas listens to Jaehyun in this moment, he’s going to lie. Because Lucas does exactly as Jaehyun says and bounds upstairs and shuts himself in his room, pacing about, nerves fraught with worry.

  
  


.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

  
  


With his spirits slightly lifted (a big emphasis on the slightly) thanks to Haechan and Chenle keeping him occupied, Mark emerges from the confines of his bed enough that the other two can now properly see him. 

“Oh, I know!” Haechan exclaims. For the past few minutes, he’s been coming up with different activities on how best to distract Mark. “Why don’t we have a sleepover! I haven’t done one of those for a long time now. We could bake, and watch movies, and make a fort downstairs… Oh! Mark, do you have any spare pyjamas or should I and Chenle go back to grab some quickly?!” 

Mark laughs and doesn’t try to tell Haechan that he actually feels like being alone right now. Because although that’s what his body wants, his mind isn’t ready to fall back into the emotional wreck over Lucas. That, and once the god of witchcraft gets going on an idea there’s no stopping him. “I think you’ll have to pop back to yours to grab some.” 

Haechan instantly agrees, “No, this is good. We can both then also grab some  _ supplies  _ whilst we’re at it.” He finishes with a wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Mark sighs and doesn’t even want to know what Haechan is implying. He would call him out on it but he’s feeling too drained still to even try. 

“Ah, shit.” Both Mark and Haechan look across to Chenle who is rubbing his temple, frustration creasing his brow. “Just got a ping saying an urgent message needs to be sent. I’ll go do that now and then come back with all my shit then.” 

Mark hums and waves Chenle off who speeds away in a flash. He forgets that part of Chenle’s duties is to deliver messages for the gods. If it wasn’t for the confidentiality oath that binds Chenle to not speak of any of the gossip he hears, Mark’s sure that Chenle would make a  _ killing  _ from the news he could sell. 

“Right.” Haechan comments. “With Chenle gone, I’ll head out too for a bit. I’m excited though! It also means I can shove this right up Hendery’s ass that he’s going to be alone tonight.  _ The little fucker…”  _

Haechan trails off listing a bunch of curses towards his significant other. Mark doesn’t even dare question it, having learnt very quickly about the chaotic dynamics Haechan and Hendery lived by. 

But before Haechan can even leave, Chenle is back with a flash of light. 

“False alarm?” Mark asks. It wouldn’t be the first time someone decided to just fuck with Chenle. The god of messages is infamous for wreaking havoc whenever he’s bored and most of the time it comes back to bite him right in the ass. 

“No,” Chenle says with a smirk. “It’s actually for  _ you. _ ” 

Mark looks at Chenle confused, eyeing the letter in Chenle’s hand with curiosity before reaching out and gently taking it. He carefully opens it and starts to read the contents. 

_ My dearest Mark,  _

_ I am so sorry for the way I treated your emotions earlier today, it seems that I wasn’t quite in the right state of mind. You know how awful I can be anytime before 12pm.  _

_ Please come by as soon as you get this heartfelt apology and hopefully we can sort this out.  _

_ From the bottom of my heart, I look forward to seeing you.  _

_ Your regretful boyfriend,  _

_ Lucas  _

Mark snorts at the styling of the letter. He turns to Chenle and asks, “Who sent you this? Because Lucas could never come up with shit like this” 

Chenle looks at the letter with amusement twinkling in his eyes. “I did suspect some sort of scheming going on when Jaehyun handed it to me. It makes sense though I guess, Jaehyun is very proud when it comes to the art of wooing.” 

“So? What does he say?” 

Mark hands Haechan the letter to read for himself, who starts to bounce happily on his feet as he skims through the letter. 

“See! My plan did work then.” Haechan exclaims. Mark looks at him with a confused glance. What about Mark fleeing home in tears is successful? “Oh come on.” Haechan continues seeing Mark’s look. “This letter wouldn’t have been here if Lucas hadn’t had a realisation of some sort. It’s a shame though.” He sighs. “I was looking forward to carrying out plan B…”

Mark takes the letter back and shakily breathes out. He gently tries to smooth out the creases that bent the letter while it was being delivered. Is this Lucas’s doing or is this Jaehyun trying to play the hero and get in Lucas’s good books? 

“So you both think I should go then?” 

Mark looks between his two friends for an answer. 

“Fuck yes!” “Absolutely!” Both of them shout at the same time. 

Mark can’t help but laugh. At the situation, he’s in, at how jumbled his emotions are, and at how eager his two friends are despite just making plans together. “What about our sleepover?” 

“Sleepovers can happen any day.” Haechan cries out. “But making up with your boyfriend and potentially getting laid?! No time to waste with that. Go get your man!” 

“Yeah what he said.” Chenle adds with a shit-eating grin. 

“Okay, okay… fine!” Mark replies. “Maybe I should get dressed this time…” 

As he rummages around, looking for an outfit he can quickly shove on, Mark tells himself he’s going with no expectations this time. At this point, all he wants is to make up with Lucas and banish this deep feeling of despair that is living in his gut. If he leaves Lucas’s place with that gone then he’ll consider it a win. Although he is curious as to why Jaehyun had decided to take the reins and be the one to reach out to Mark, even if he was trying to pose as Lucas. 

Mark slips on some shoes and looks at the pair. “I’ll be off then…” 

“Send me a ping if things go to shit and we’ll come get you out,” Chenle says, tapping his head. 

Mark gives them a nervous smile and steps into the rift he creates for Lucas’s house. He promptly lands outside the front door for the second time that day, giving his body a shake in an attempt to rid the nerves that are built up. It doesn’t do much but distracts him enough to quickly knock on the door. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Jaehyun is the one to open the front door.

Lucas paces about his room, frantically switching between cracking his knuckles in anxiety and neatly arranging the various pillows and belongings strewn about the bedroom. Jaehyun’s voice is calm and quiet as he addresses Mark. Restless, Lucas plasters himself to the wall by the door, struggling to eavesdrop.

When footsteps resound in the hallway, Lucas launches off the wall. There’s not enough time for him to pose somewhere in the room casually as he had hoped, so when Mark shows up in the open doorway, Lucas is standing in the middle, looking properly out of sorts.

“Hey,” Mark says.

“Hey,” Lucas replies.

There’s a pause. Lucas sucks in a breath. Then: 

  
“I’m so sorry, holy fuck, I totally misinterpreted what you meant. I shouldn’t have cut you off or anything, I was so worried that something bad had happened at the party and so when you started talking I wasn’t even thinking about the possibility that you might--” Lucas cuts himself off just to drop his gaze to the side, face red. He fumbles to continue. “I didn’t want you to think that I was expecting anything from you that you weren’t ready to give and I, uh. I guess I totally missed the point, and I’m so, so sorry, Mark. I--”

When Lucas looks back to Mark, he finds the young god smiling softly at him. 

“It’s okay,” Mark says. “Yeah, it’s-- it’s okay. I mean, it kinda… yeah. I can see where you would get that.”

Lucas steps back to slump atop his bed. “I really fucked things up.”

“I think it’s fair to say we both did,” Mark tries instead. He shifts his weight from foot to foot before shuffling over to take the spot beside Lucas on the bed. Then, he holds out his hand for Lucas to take. 

Lucas does.

“So,” Lucas begins, resituating to better face Mark. He tugs on Mark’s hand, signaling for the younger god to turn, too. “Let’s talk about that other thing, then.” He drops his voice an octave incidentally, mirth lacing his features. Mark’s face heats a pretty pink.

“Yeah, okay.” 

It’s pointless trying to start a conversation because now that the air is clear, all Lucas wants to do is kiss Mark. Like, really bad. 

So he does. He tugs Mark’s hand again. Brings his other hand up to cup Mark’s jaw, and pulls him in.

Mark tastes sweet, sort of, like freedom. 

Sighing into the kiss, Mark combs his fingers through Lucas’s hair. Shifts a bit so he’s sitting further from the edge. Lucas crawls after him, incidentally pushing Mark against the silky bedding. And Mark lets him, falling back, all warm and carefree and  _ hot. _

Lucas breaks the kiss.   
  


“Hey, what are you--  _ oh.”  _ Mark trails off. The top half of Lucas’s garments hits the ground with a soft  _ thump  _ and he leans back down to mouth at Mark’s jaw. “Oh, okay. Yeah.”

“You good?” Lucas asks.

“Very.” Hands reach up and grip Lucas’s shoulders. Soft yet calloused palms slip over his biceps, then his chest, then his back, roaming, warm, warm,  _ warm.  _ Mark pulls him close, gripping at his hair, as Lucas sucks a mark on his neck.

And it--

It’s so  _ natural.  _ More natural than anything has ever felt before in Lucas’s entire life. It’s their first time, but for some reason, plotting the lines and slopes of Mark’s body feels like coming home. Like Lucas is meant to be here; like they’re built for one another. 

A long, long time ago, a certain philosopher proposed that once upon a time, humans used to have two heads, four legs, and four arms. These humans were so powerful that the gods felt threatened, and as a result, as gods are prone to do, they cast upon these humans a curse. For each human is then split in two and separated from one another, forever unable to become one with their other half again.

That certain philosopher said that this is how love was formed. That this longing to connect with the separated half-- a soulmate, perhaps-- that is what draws humans together. 

And yeah, that’s pretty grotesque, and definitely didn’t ever happen, but.

Lucas, as the volatile god of war, has a tendency to feel emotions at their fullest. Raging fires of anger and irritation, icy sleet of depression and hopelessness. So it’s no question that, as an incidental romantic, when he fell for Mark, he fell  _ hard.  _ And maybe there’s a tiny part of him that hopes in some universe or another, Mark was his other half, regardless of the technical errors and overall horrifying quality of that train of thought.

Because Mark is  _ Mark.  _ He’s everything and more.  _ Lucas’s  _ everything. And Lucas would do anything to keep him here, close and safe. 

  
Wherever Mark is, home is. Lucas has never loved anyone more.

*

“Hey.”

Lucas pokes at a sleeping Mark’s forehead. The skin crinkles under his touch as Mark’s eyebrows pull together. Burrowing into the pillow, the god of adventure lets out a groan. “‘m sleeping.”

It’s so cute that Lucas contemplates leaving Mark there to rest.

But…

“Hey, Mark,” Lucas tries, clearing his throat. “As much as I love the sight of you in my bed, you might want to get up.”

“Nooo,” is the whiny response. Blindly, Mark swats at where Lucas stands. Lucas manages to grab his hand and laces their fingers together. Squeezes. Mark squeezes back.

Laughing, Lucas crouches beside the bed. Keeps his gaze away from the splotches of red littering Mark’s skin. “Want to hear something funny?”

“No,” Mark says.

“People are starting to think I hid you away somewhere.”

Mark scoffs, voice gravelly with sleep. “That’s stupid.”

“Is it?” Lucas asks. He releases Mark’s hand, instead opting to run a palm over Mark’s bare back. “Should I?”

“What?”

“Nevermind.” 

Mark shifts again, peeking open one eye to look at Lucas. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“Because it’s been three days, Mark.”

“So?” Mark asks. Instead of replying, Lucas waits for the words to hit. It takes longer than Lucas anticipates, but when they do, Mark’s eyes fly open, his face heating an impossible shade of red. “Oh, gods.”

“Yeah.”

“ _ Three days?!”  _ Suddenly, Mark pushes himself up, only to fall straight back onto the bed. “ _ Fuck,  _ oh gods, you… three days!?!?”

Lucas, feeling a bit like a little shit, climbs onto the bed. “Want to make it four?”

“Shit, no, gods, get away from me, I’m still in pain,” Mark sputters, trying-- and failing-- to push Lucas away. Eventually, he gives up entirely, choosing instead to bury his face into his pillow. “I was asleep for three days!”

“Yeah,” Lucas says, again. He lays down beside Mark and curls an arm around his boyfriend’s waist. “Like I said, we can make it four. Or five. Or six. Just move in with me. Then we can do it every day--”

“Hey, hey, hey, slow down,” Mark laughs. He shifts over toward Lucas, burrowing into the older god’s chest. Lucas lets his arm fall around Mark in an embrace. “I’d like to be able to actually do my job at some point, mister.”

“Fuck that.” Mark is so warm. And he smells good. Like Lucas, maybe. The thought sends heat shooting to his gut. “I didn’t do my job for four months, and I got to meet you.”

“Yeah. You did.” The response is soft and contemplative. “I’m glad you did.”

"Me too."  


**Author's Note:**

> the bit about the "philosopher" is real-- it's a line of thought proposed by Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium. it's a really interesting idea, and if you like what he has to say, I would definitely recommend checking out the text! 
> 
> the "andron" is where a symposium would take place. klinai are long reclined couches that drinkers would recline on for the event.
> 
> keep your eyes peeled, folks. we've got another story on the way ;)


End file.
